Dynamic Controllability Analysis for Plantwide Process Design and Control. World-wide chemical plants represent many billions of dollars of investment. Improvements to the process designs in terms of controllability would have the potential to provide large economic benefits, as it implies improved productivity, reduced operating costs and product variability. This proposed research will be a step towards integration of process design and control, which has been widely recognized as the key to t ....Dynamic Controllability Analysis for Plantwide Process Design and Control. World-wide chemical plants represent many billions of dollars of investment. Improvements to the process designs in terms of controllability would have the potential to provide large economic benefits, as it implies improved productivity, reduced operating costs and product variability. This proposed research will be a step towards integration of process design and control, which has been widely recognized as the key to this improvement. The outcomes from this project may be readily implemented in process design practice, and therefore have a direct impact to the Australian and world-wide process industries, helping to build a more efficient and environmental conscious Australian process industries.Read moreRead less
Low temperature carbothermal reduction of alumina. Australia is the world's largest producer of alumina and bauxite; and the aluminium industry is our second largest commodity exporter. This project targets the development of fundamentals of an advanced technology for aluminium production with advantages of low energy consumption, low production costs and being more environment-friendly. This frontier technology will enhance the competitiveness of the Australian aluminium industry and contribute ....Low temperature carbothermal reduction of alumina. Australia is the world's largest producer of alumina and bauxite; and the aluminium industry is our second largest commodity exporter. This project targets the development of fundamentals of an advanced technology for aluminium production with advantages of low energy consumption, low production costs and being more environment-friendly. This frontier technology will enhance the competitiveness of the Australian aluminium industry and contribute to making an environmentally sustainable Australia. The project will also provide high quality education to final year undergraduate students. The project will contribute to the theory of metallurgical processes, particularly to the gas-solid reactions in the reduction and carburisation processes. Read moreRead less
Granular dynamics: from discrete simulation towards continuum modelling. The project aims to develop a general averaging theory to link discrete to continuum description of granular dynamics and a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physics. This will be achieved through detailed analysis of the particle-particle and particle-wall interactions at both microscopic and macroscopic levels, supported by the newly developed averaging theory and novel discrete particle simulation. The result ....Granular dynamics: from discrete simulation towards continuum modelling. The project aims to develop a general averaging theory to link discrete to continuum description of granular dynamics and a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physics. This will be achieved through detailed analysis of the particle-particle and particle-wall interactions at both microscopic and macroscopic levels, supported by the newly developed averaging theory and novel discrete particle simulation. The results, in terms of constitutive relations and boundary conditions, will be implemented in continuum-based process modelling and tested by comparing numerical and experimental results via typical case studies. It will significantly enhance the present capability of modelling granular flow that is widely encountered in many industries and in nature.Read moreRead less
Plantwide Control of Modern Chemical Processes from a Network Perspective. Complex plants increasingly appear in modern Australian process industries, particularly in mineral processing, petrochemical and renewable energies sectors. These plants represent vast capital costs and manufacture products at a very large scale. Improvement in control and operation of these processes can potentially provide significant economic benefits. The expected outcome of this research is an effective approach to ....Plantwide Control of Modern Chemical Processes from a Network Perspective. Complex plants increasingly appear in modern Australian process industries, particularly in mineral processing, petrochemical and renewable energies sectors. These plants represent vast capital costs and manufacture products at a very large scale. Improvement in control and operation of these processes can potentially provide significant economic benefits. The expected outcome of this research is an effective approach to improve operational safety, efficiency, product quality and manufacturing flexibility, helping to build a more efficient and environmental conscious Australian chemical industry. This project will also enhance Australia's scientific reputation in the frontier research area of advanced process control and management.Read moreRead less
An Intelligent/Smart Framework for Total Process Monitoring And Supervision. Operator failures have an adverse effect on product quality, process safety, occupational health and environmental impact. The management of abnormal operating conditions is a major responsibility and depends critically on information management. A recent report indicates that the total cost attributable to preventable losses in petrochemical companies in U.S. amounts to twenty billion dollars per year. The objective o ....An Intelligent/Smart Framework for Total Process Monitoring And Supervision. Operator failures have an adverse effect on product quality, process safety, occupational health and environmental impact. The management of abnormal operating conditions is a major responsibility and depends critically on information management. A recent report indicates that the total cost attributable to preventable losses in petrochemical companies in U.S. amounts to twenty billion dollars per year. The objective of this project is to develop the theoretical framework and implementation of an Advanced Integrated Support System (ISS) for process monitoring, data analysis and interpretation, event detection and diagnosis, and operations support in chemical and petrochemical processes manufacturing.Read moreRead less
A Novel Approach to Processing of Australian Laterite Ores through Selective Reduction and Carbonylation. Processing of laterite ores, started in 1998 in Australia, has significantly enhanced Australian role on the international nickel market. However, the production of nickel from oxide ores by established technologies consumes two to three times energy as processing of sulphide ores with significant environmental impact. This underlines the importance of development of more energy efficient pr ....A Novel Approach to Processing of Australian Laterite Ores through Selective Reduction and Carbonylation. Processing of laterite ores, started in 1998 in Australia, has significantly enhanced Australian role on the international nickel market. However, the production of nickel from oxide ores by established technologies consumes two to three times energy as processing of sulphide ores with significant environmental impact. This underlines the importance of development of more energy efficient processes for oxide ores. The proposed technology will significantly decrease energy and water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions in nickel production. It will enhance the competitiveness of Australian Nickel Industry and stimulate its expansion with significant economy and social benefits.Read moreRead less
Varying similarity metrics in indexing and retrieving high dimensional data. Many applications require varying distance metrics by putting a weight on different dimensions. Taking an example in visual information retrieval, due to the subjective nature of similarity measurements, the distance metrics can vary between different users. The main problem with k nearest neighbour (k-nn) searches using weighted metrics in a high dimensional space is whether the searches can be done efficiently, since ....Varying similarity metrics in indexing and retrieving high dimensional data. Many applications require varying distance metrics by putting a weight on different dimensions. Taking an example in visual information retrieval, due to the subjective nature of similarity measurements, the distance metrics can vary between different users. The main problem with k nearest neighbour (k-nn) searches using weighted metrics in a high dimensional space is whether the searches can be done efficiently, since in an arbitrary distance metric the intersection between the k-nn sphere and the bounding envelopes of nodes in an index tree cannot be easily calculated. This project aims to seek a novel solution. It will create a great impact on and have many applications in high dimensional visual information retrieval, instance-based learning, complex analysis, non-parametric density estimation, etc.Read moreRead less
WAVELET-BASED MODELLING AND MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF COMPLEX MULTIDIMENSIONAL CRYSTALLISATION PROCESSES. The results of this project will directly contribute to a better understanding of crystallisation which is an important unit operation to achieve high purity separations. Many Australian industries for example, mineral processing, sugar processing, pharmaceuticals, etc will benefit from the results in order to enhance optimal operation and control to ensure globally competitive production ....WAVELET-BASED MODELLING AND MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF COMPLEX MULTIDIMENSIONAL CRYSTALLISATION PROCESSES. The results of this project will directly contribute to a better understanding of crystallisation which is an important unit operation to achieve high purity separations. Many Australian industries for example, mineral processing, sugar processing, pharmaceuticals, etc will benefit from the results in order to enhance optimal operation and control to ensure globally competitive production which is on time, minimize wastes and raw materials and inventories. The leading edge results will increase the contributions of these industries to the Australian economy and our global competitiveness necessary to maintain our culture and the beauty of our environment. Read moreRead less
All-solid-state Z-scheme photocatalysts for water treatment. The project aims to develop high-performance Z-scheme photocatalysts by using two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors as building blocks for low-cost, highly-efficient pathogen inactivation and emerging pollutant degradation in stormwater treatment. The project expects to generate new fundamental knowledge in the area of photocatalyst design and Z-scheme photocatalytic system, and advance the application of photocatalytic oxidation in wate ....All-solid-state Z-scheme photocatalysts for water treatment. The project aims to develop high-performance Z-scheme photocatalysts by using two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors as building blocks for low-cost, highly-efficient pathogen inactivation and emerging pollutant degradation in stormwater treatment. The project expects to generate new fundamental knowledge in the area of photocatalyst design and Z-scheme photocatalytic system, and advance the application of photocatalytic oxidation in water treatment. The expected outcomes of the project include novel 2D Z-scheme photocatalysts and enhanced capacity in stormwater management.Read moreRead less
Governance of Agile Software Development Projects. The aim of the project is to generate theoretical knowledge on how to govern agile teams effectively. Effective governance of software development projects is essential for companies to protect their information technology investments. Nowadays, companies have migrated to agile software development where requirements and solutions evolve iteratively and change frequently; yet formal approaches to governance (eg steering committee and detailed pl ....Governance of Agile Software Development Projects. The aim of the project is to generate theoretical knowledge on how to govern agile teams effectively. Effective governance of software development projects is essential for companies to protect their information technology investments. Nowadays, companies have migrated to agile software development where requirements and solutions evolve iteratively and change frequently; yet formal approaches to governance (eg steering committee and detailed plans) are ineffective and impede flexibility, agility and creativity. This project aims to identify informal governance approaches for agile projects based on team embeddedness and network theory. With this knowledge, management could ensure projects deliver value at an acceptable cost, quality and timescale.Read moreRead less